Fiona

January 1, 2016
An atmospheric thriller features an orphan searching for a home. For Fiona, called Fee by her friends, going to Scotland after high school is a chance to connect with her deceased mother's roots. Working as an au pair for Lady Lily Moffat, her mother's best friend, seems like a way to really start living. But it doesn't take long for major complications to develop. Even before she arrives, Lily and her husband are killed. Poppy, her charge, is lost in her grief. And Charlie, Poppy's older brother and now legal guardian, is incredibly attractive to Fee--but he has a girlfriend, Blair, who's not about to let Charlie go. As the plot grows ever more labyrinthine, Fee worries she's going crazy, just as her mother did. But is it schizophrenia, or is she being gaslighted? Fee doesn't know whom to trust or turn to--so she'll have to rely on herself to solve the mystery and keep Poppy and Charlie safe, because anyone can be her enemy, even characters who appear to be friends. As a thriller, it's an uneven one. Most of the evil characters lack motivation for their actions, undermining Fee's terror--but that terror is vividly portrayed, heightening the tension. The inevitable romance between Fee and Charlie adds interest for readers not daunted by the novel's length. Scotland, romance, terror--a mostly solid combination. (Romantic thriller. 14-18)

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March 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-Fiona "Fee" Smith is ready to leave the past behind. Fee is the only child of a wannabe rock star who took off before she was born and Moira Cavendish, a Scottish heiress who left behind her privileged life to follow the would-be star to Texas. After her mother's suicide when she was only 12, Fee has been counting the days until she is free to leave her uninterested aunt's home. When an email from Lady Lily Moffat, an old friend of her mother's, arrives, she is immediately drawn to this opportunity for a new beginning in Scotland as the au pair of Lady Moffat's young daughter. Tragedy strikes the Moffat family shortly before she arrives, and now Fee is needed there more than ever. A chance meeting in the local pub brings Fee face to face with her new employer, young Lord Charles Moffat. But life in the manor is not entirely what she expected. Soon nightly whispers and strange noises that seem to come from outside her window have Fiona worried that she has inherited her mother's mental illness. Romance and suspense fill this breezy YA offering. Characters are not particularly unique or well developed, but the plot moves the story along nicely. The Scottish Highlands setting helps add to the overall gothic mood of the novel. VERDICT For fans of romantic suspense who are looking for a quick, light read.-Elaine Baran Black, Georgia Public Library Service, Atlanta

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